Esparza fights tonight for another step closer to Olympic spot

Published 1:40 pm, Monday, May 14, 2012

After a first-round bye, Esparza beat Pamela Paola Benavidez of Argentina 20-10 on Sunday to advance to the round of 16 in the women's world boxing competition in Qinhuangdao, China.

The flyweight faces Luu Thi Duyen, a 19-year-old from Vietnam, at 1 a.m. tomorrow morning. Esparza enters that bout as the favorite and could be the first American to qualify for the Games in women's boxing, which will be staged at the Olympics for the first time this year.

Flyweight (112 pounds), lightweight (132) and middleweight (165) are the three weight classes that will debut in London, with eight Olympic spots available in each category.

With a victory over Duyen, Esparza next would likely go against the world's No. 1-ranked fighter and defending world champion Ren Cancan of China, in what would be the most difficult test of her career.

With an Olympic spot already clinched, it could be interesting to see how Esparza fights the rest of the tournament. Cancan, like Benavidez and Duyen, is a rangy lefthander. Esparza, who has sparred extensively against a left-handed male fighter in Houston, might choose to hold back some of her tactics against the champion, saving her best for London.

"We don't want to give her everything," Esparza's coach Rudy Silva said from China. "As a coach what I would really like to do is completely pull her of the competition so no one else will get to see her so close to the Olympics, but that isn't going to happen. And I can't tell Marlen not to fight. She won't go for that, so we're going to let her fight and see what happens."